This inventon relates generally to alarm boxes, and more specifically, to an alarm box which incorporates a mechanism for determining the identity of the sender of a false alarm.
Most municipalities, in order to provide better police and fire protection for their citizens, have placed alarm boxes, which are connected to either the police or fire departments, at numerous locations on their streets. Generally, one set of alarm boxes is provided for summoning the police, while a different set of alarm boxes is used to summon fire fighters to the scene of an emergency. These alarm boxes are operated by means of a handle which must be pulled or turned, or by buttons which must be pushed, thereby closing a circuit which activates an alarm at a nearby local station or at a central headquarters.
A recent improvement in this art involves a slightly larger composite alarm box which can be used to summon either the police or the fire department, or both, and which, as an additional feature, permits the sender of the alarm to communicate by voice with the dispatcher in order to inform him of the exact nature of the emergency. Such voice call boxes have recently been placed into use in New York City and elsewhere.
Since the procedure involved in turning in an alarm is relatively simple, it has become apparent that unauthorized persons, including children, are capable of operating and have operated alarm boxes although no real emergency exists. In recent years, the tremendous increase in the number of such false alarms which have been turned in has resulted in a considerable waste of both the time and energy of police and fire personnel. In addition, many deaths and injuries have occurred as a result of the fact that the only available rescue personnel were engaged in answering a false alarm and were therefore not available to render the appropriate aid at the scene of a real emergency.
Various attempts to discourage false alarms have been made in the past. The prior art alarm boxes which also contain detection devices fall generally into one of three categories: those which make a permanent record of the identity of the sender, those which alert passersby, and those which involve some sort of physical apprehension of the sender. An example of the first category is U.S. Pat. No. 1,861,243, where an arrangement was proposed in which two photographs of the sender of the alarm are taken immediately after the alarm is turned in. Two cameras, which are mounted on poles and are located on opposite sides of the alarm box and at some distance away, are operated electrically by a circuit which is closed when the alarm signal is activated. However, the caller can easily escape detection by placing some obstruction in front of the camera lenses or by covering or obscuring his features.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,794 is representative of the second category of prior art detection devices, and requires the sender to open a door on the front of the alarm box, thereby automatically activating a flood light and a local siren. An initial alarm is also registered with the central station. The operator must then wait until a time-delay circuit disconnects the local alarm, and allows him access to a switch for sending a secondary alarm, which confirms to the fire personnel that a real emergency exists. However, positive identification is never assured, and a vandal intent upon transmitting a false alarm will probably send in the secondary call as well. U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,005 discloses a similar device which is subject to the same drawbacks.
The third category of prior art devices is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,301,989 and 2,121,206. In both of these, the sender is required to insert his hand into the box in order to turn in an alarm, but upon activating the signal mechanism, his wrist is automatically entrapped by a removable handcuff which is initially positioned within the box. The sender may then remove his arm from the box in order to return to the emergency, but the handcuff assembly, which is detachable from the box, remains secured to his wrist. The police or fire personnel, who have the key needed to remove the handcuff, may subsequently identify the operator of the alarm box by this distinctive wrist marker. Although the sender of a false alarm would theoretically have to report to the authorities in order to have the handcuff removed, the lock could readily be "picked" and there are, of course, other methods for removing handcuffs which do not require a key.
In summary, the prior art has failed to develop an alarm box, containing a mechanism which deters the transmission of false alarms, which successfully combines both ease and simplicity of operation by authorized users, with a reliable detection system for accurate identification of senders of spurious alarms.
It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide an alarm box for summoning both police and fire personnel, which also has facilities for accurately identifying the caller or operator of the box.
Another object of this invention is to provide an alarm box for summoning either police or fire personnel which is easily operable and permits expeditious transmission of an alarm.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an alarm box for summoning either police or fire personnel which will prevent and deter unauthorized use by requiring the user to provide a permanent identification record of himself as an integral part of the alarm process.